6533b7d9fe1ef96bd126d3b2

RESEARCH PRODUCT

L’occupation du Néolithique final de Trémonteix (Puy-de-Dôme) et ses assemblages de mobilier

subject

description

In the heart of Auvergne (Puy-de-Dôme), the Late Neolithic settlement of Trémonteix is established beneath the Côtes de Clermont-Ferrand, a vast basalt plateau that dominates the north of the actual agglomeration. Within the framework of a rescue archaeology, an excavation conducted by Inrap, over 2588 m2 and has delivered several features and revealed a number of terraced constructions, dug into the bank of an ancient river bed. These are sheltered spaces (building 1) and artisanal activity zones, documented by pits and remains of occupation levels that were rich in finds. These constructions provided various pottery types, worked flint, an abundance of mainly domestic animal remains, worked antler and bone tools, as well as many macroremains, of which cereal grains and charcoal signify an open environment, confirmed by the malacology study. The pottery assemblage, undecorated but rich and varied, and the flint collection, a part of which is imported from Grand-Pressigny, have certain affinities with the cultural groups of the middle-west and the north of France (Gord/Deûle-Escaut). Apart for the lack of decorations in Trémonteix, thick domestic and fine luxury pottery are also similar to certain productions of Artenac (phase IIb). If the Clermont occupation seems to be related to several cultural and economic entities, the livelihoods highlighted on this site seem specific. However the sites of the Massif central dating from the Late Neolithic are quite rare and scarcely documented, in the Auvergne it therefore seems premature to produce a synthesis of the third millennium.The structures and domestic finds identified on the Clermont site, are homogeneous and are the witnesses of a relatively short lived occupation between 2848 et 2286 B. C. with a peak of probability between 2550 and 2500 B. C. The major interest of Trémonteix lies, above all, in the abundance and diversity of the ceramics and lithic materials that currently make reference for the Late Neolithic in the Auvergne and especially the third millenium B.C.